THE MTC EXPERIENCE CONTINUES BUT WINDS DOWN
(We focused on family history work during the last couple of weeks while we were at the MTC exclusively)
The lone window at the top is our room. We have a great view from here to the south.
The Lorenzo Snow Mult-Purpose Bldg filled to capacity. This is a photo of an earlier time. But, still the same. All the devotionals and firesides were held here during our stay.
SOME MORE OF OUR FAVOURITE PICTURES IN THE WILFORD
WOODRUFF ADMINISTRATION BLDG
--The Dove (Matthew 3:16)--
WOODRUFF ADMINISTRATION BLDG
--The Dove (Matthew 3:16)--
FRONTRUNNER TRAIN PROVO TO SALT LAKE CITY
It was a very comfortable ride and takes about 50 minutes. We intended to go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake today (Saturday, February 16, 2013) but decided to go the Church History Museum instead. We spent the best part of the day in the Museum and very little time on family history. The first painting below makes a visit to the Museum worth while all on its own.
THE CHURCH HISTORY MUSEUM IN SALT LAKE CITY
This is an amazing painting of Lehi's Vision of the Tree of Life. The detail is very fine and the symbolism makes one stand in awe for some time and consider what the artist was thinking and how his work depicts the intended meaning of Lehi's vision as recorded in the Book of Mormon.
This is a close up of the far left portion of the painting above. Notice the detail. This portion of the painting depicts the determination & struggle in holding onto the rod of iron and the joy that comes from partaking of the fruit of the tree of life.
A further close up of those close to or at the tree of life and partaking of the fruit thereof.
A further close up to show the detail of the tree of life and its fruit.
A close up of the family to the right of the tree of life and the joy that comes from partaking of its fruit.
A beautiful painting by a young Navajo man in a natural setting
Stories of Light from the theme "Arise and Shine Forth" (D&C 115: 4-6) is an art exhibit of original paintings by youth. This was an International Art Competition sponsored by the Church History Museum. "The art competition asked 13 to 18 year old youth to create original works of art that visually express their insights into the competition theme". Over 400 youth participated from around the world. 82 works are displayed in the Church Museum. Below are some of the ones that we particularly enjoyed. Each of the five shown has the caption by the artist beside the painting.
The toil and sacrifice of the Saints in crossing the plains to the Salt Lake valley.
Moroni raising the title of liberty.
BACK AT THE MTC AGAIN AND SOME OF OUR GOODBYES
Mary, standing between Elder & Sister Leary, sat with us many times in the cafeteria. She has cooked at the MTC for 35 years. Mary was very interested in the work we were doing in family history and often had good advice for us. We looked forward to seeing her every day. This is a photo in the cafeteria the day before we left the MTC on Tuesday, February 19th, 2013.
Elder & Sister Rhodes from Calgary going to the New Delhi Mission in northern India along with the Leary's going to the Bangalore Mission in southern India. We overlaped with the Rhodes at the MTC for the last three weeks or so. Both couples were temporarily reassigned at the same time by the Missionary Department. The Rhodes were reassigned to MLS in the Montreal Mission to labor in the Val-d'Or area. The Leary's were reassigned to Records Preservation in Family History in the Winnipeg Mission to labor in Regina, Saskatchewan. We both left the MTC on Wednesday, February 20th, 2013.
Sister Leary doing her best to point to Regina, Saskatechewan and Bangalore, India.
Well here we go again with our luggage. It is scary.
Some 17 Elders and one Sister Missionary accompanied the lone senior couple--the Leary's to the airport on the bus and onto the Winnipeg Mission.
Hello Canada again and a warm greeting from Regina in the backgound. Bishop Dilts met us at the airport. He is in charge of the records preservation project in Regina.
OUR REGINA BEGINNINGS
The kitchen and a glimpse of our eating area in our apartment off Sherwood Drive in the northwest part of the city. We are very comfortable here and more than we could hope for. The hospitality of the Bishop, Sister Porter and Elder & Sister Eckhart, all who live in apartments in the same complex, was wonderful. They were all most helpful to us to make sure we had everything we needed. Also in the same apartment complex are two young Elder companionships--Elders Hatch & Barba and Elders Brisco and Quist. All the missionaries are assigned to work in the Lewvan Ward--which comprises the west side of Regina; whereas Sister Porter and ourselves also work on records preservation.
A map of Regina was left on our apartment wall by previous missionaries with shopping malls, church buildings and the archive center noted. It has come in very handy. The heavy line down the middle is Albert Street which divides the city into two wards--Wascana Ward to the east and Lewvan Ward to the west.
THE SASKATCHEWAN ARCHIVES BUILDING AND OUR OFFICE, STAFF AND DOCUMENTS WE ARE WORKING ON
and
THE WORK THAT WE DO
Sister Leary with Sister Porter who works with us on records preservation. They are standing at the entrance to the archives bldg.
The Saskatchewan Archives Bldg in the above two photos. We have the office behind the tree in the above top photo.
Our office work area. Sister Leary at her desk hard at work. Bishop Dilts in the background.
From left to right, Sister Marlene Herman a member of the Lewvan Ward, Sister Porter from Utah on a family history mission and Sister Leary. My desk is to Sister Leary's left by the window. By the way, I was quite willing to give up the window desk but everyone insisted so what could I do! We all reside in the Lewvan Ward, which is one of the two wards in Regina.
Bishop Dilts, who is bishop of the Lewvan Ward, keeps a close eye on us while he does the imaging. He makes sure we keep up with him in preparation of documents and that we do accurate work. He is a wonderful supervisor. While working we have many discussions on gospel topics and listen to gospel tapes at times. We also discuss other topics of common interest. All this makes the time pass very quickly. We work from 9am to 3pm with a short break for bag lunch. I felt this was a short day at first but quickly found out that the work requires focus and does become tiring. We have an enjoyable time while at our posts doing the work.
The above five photos give you some idea of the kind and quality of documents we deal with.
These are the kind of box's the document files have been historically stored in which we continue to use for storage after preparation and imaging.
We do records preservation from 9am to 3pm Monday thru
Friday each week. We now have 2 1/2 weeks into the project. We work
out of the Saskatchewan Archives Board offices in south Regina. The work
of records preservation is tedious and
physically and mentally tiring but fulfilling at the same time. It requires focus to make sure that what we are doing is accurate and in order. We are working on homestead records from 1870 to 1930.
Each homestead has a file dealing with the period from its grant to time of
either cancellation or issuing a patent that can span anywhere from 3 to 50
years or so. According to Bishop Dilts, some 400 names are recorded in these documents on the
average for every 2000 pages. We prepare and image about 150,000 pages
per quarter. So all of this information, once indexed, will go into the Family Search
file of the Church which is freely available to the public for family history
research. We haven't noticed any Leary's so far in the records. I
found it interesting that Saskatchewan seems to have opened up around 1870 for
homesteads, probably sometime later than the opening up for homesteads in Manitoba--where the Leary's first settled in the Nelsonville and Roseisle areas after first living in the Lake Huron region of Ontario. We are part of a team of thousands of volunteers and paid workers doing records preservation around the world. It is exciting work and vital to family history research. We are grateful to be able to play a part in this work and to obtain the experience we are getting here in Regina.
BEAUTIFUL WINTER SCENES IN REGINA--IT IS A PHOTOGRAPHERS PARADISE FOR SUCH SCENES
Albert Street looking south on way to our office.
Foot Bridge to Pine Island in Wascana Lake southeast of the Regina Legislative Building. Wascana Lake, a man-made lake, is part of the drainage of Wascana Creek that lazily meanders southeasterly across the south central portion of Regina. Green areas are present all along Wascana Creek. A more extensive green area is centered around the Legislative Bldg, other government buildings, Regina University and various colleges that are situated along the magins of Wascana Creek and Wascana Lake in the southern portion of the city.
Foot Bridge to Pine Island and Legislative Building in background.
Legislative Building
Elk trees arch over many of the streets in Regina
ONE FINAL NOTE FOR THIS POSTING
We found this plaque displayed in the Church History Museum in Salt Lake that sums up our mission experience so far.
These are wonderful pictures,"there is beauty all around" as long as you look for it. It is said that this land is called the "Great White North", more often then not they remember the white and forget the GREAT.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you both are here and have joined us in the work. I hope that I am a blessing to you both. I know that you have already begun to bless me and this work.
Every missionary that has come here to work with me has become my family and every time they have to go home to their loved ones, who of course deserve to have them back, I am left to miss them until "we meet again".
I look forward to many more years knowing you both and laughing as we do every day of the last two and a half weeks.
Thank you as always for your kind words of wisdom. You have most definitely been a blessing to us. You have done everything and more to make us feel welcome in Regina. We certainly enjoy our many laughs. We know for sure that if India doesn't want us that we are wanted here. Thank you for your great example.
DeleteElder & Sister Leary